Comments on: Kumbaya by Lynne Arriale

By: Sister Julie Ann

Sister Julie Ann — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:30:11 +0000

Allie, thanks for your comment. May you find God in the amazing moments of each new day.

By: Allie

Allie — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:45:22 +0000

This song is amazing. Her voice is so relaxing and the message is very powerful. I look forward to hearing more songs of the month! Thank you and may God bless you all each and every day. Know that all of the sisters of Manitowoc are in my prayers as you continue to serve God’s people. Please pray for me as well, as I continue discerning my call to Sisters of Saint Benedict in Ferdinand, Indiana. I am hoping to enter in August of 2009. God bless!
Allie

By: Sister Julie Ann

Sister Julie Ann — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:45:15 +0000

Recently I was blessed to hear Fr. Todd Laverty,OFM, a pastor of a downtown Detroit parish, speak on servant leadership.

Using a story teller approach, this Franciscan friar described the experience of a leader having to hold the extremes together, being a living crucible in order for the mission of an organization or group of people to move forward in living the Gospel. In the midst of carrying this struggle, this song would seem a fitting instrument to keep grounded. Father also suggested the words:
“I live no longer; Christ lives in me.”

By: Sister Anne Marie Lom

Sister Anne Marie Lom — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:54:17 +0000

What a peaceful, soothing melody. I have it playing while I work at the computer and it seems to increase my ability to think, concentrate and be inspired.
I appreciated the background to the song, Sr. Julie Ann. I often wondered about the word, Kumbaya and now to find out it means “come by here my Lord.” This is both a traditional and contemporary prayer to the Lord.
I am having many peaceful, soothing minutes of work accompanied by this soulful tune.

By: Sister Julie Ann

Sister Julie Ann — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:33:10 +0000

Molly, you are right that this music soars with mysticism. On this feast of St. John Chrysostom, Lynne’s instrumental ‘Kumbaya’ complements this saint’s straightforward style of preaching: “Is it not absurd, when Christ shows such care for his little ones, that we should refuse to care for them?”

By: Molly

Molly — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:00:44 +0000

This is such a beautiful song, It’s music to the soul. Ever since I listened to this song I have to replay it over and over again because it is so pure yet enchanting.

By: Sister Julie Ann

Sister Julie Ann — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:32:02 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Gabrielle. May you continue to find the Lord’s peace surrounding you.

By: Gabrielle Schmitz

Gabrielle Schmitz — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:54:47 +0000

I think it is a beautiful song. It was very relaxing!

By: Sister Julie Ann

Sister Julie Ann — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:39:27 +0000

Where does ‘Kumbaya’ come from? After doing a google search, I learned I was not the first person to ask that question. Here’s a great answer from the alpha dictionary…

“Kumbaya, my Lord” started out in the 1920s as a Gullah spiritual sung on the islands of South Carolina between Charleston and Beaufort. Gullah is the creole featured in the Uncle Remus series of Joel Chandler Harris and the Walt Disney production of “Song of the South.” “Come by here, my Lord” in Gullah is “Come by (h)yuh, my lawd”…American missionaries probably took the song to Angola after its publication in the 1930s, where its origins were forgotten. In the late 1950s the song was rediscovered in Angola and returned to North American where it swept the campfire circuit as a beautiful and mysterious religious lyric. That is why the song is associated with Angola in many current printed versions.
See: http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/english_grammar_style/kumbaya.html

Lynne’s instrumental version of the song is beautiful and the jazz rendition adds to its mystery for today’s listener.

By: Sister Marsaia Kaster

Sister Marsaia Kaster — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:33:25 +0000

With Lynne Arriale at the piano, Jay Anderson on Bass and Steve Davis on percussion, we are treated to a slow-paced, peaceful, jazz rendition of Kumbaya. If one is not listening really attentively, it’s pretty easy to miss the main “story line” in this song: that God is with us, no matter what, when, where we are. And just like in life, it’s easy to miss the Lord’s presence in and around us.

This weekend in Green Bay, WI, there will be an Immigration Walk, a chance to show our caring for people who are entering new places in their lives. May we walk with so many others who so badly need to know right now that “Kumbaya……God is with us!”